Kentucky Administrative Regulations
Title 405 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET - DEPARTMENT FOR NATURAL RESOURCES
Chapter 18 - Performance Standards for Underground Mining Activities
Section 405 KAR 18:110 - Surface and groundwater monitoring

Universal Citation: 405 KY Admin Regs Service 18:110

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024

RELATES TO: KRS 350.100, 350.151, 350.405, 350.420, 350.465

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 requires the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations establishing performance standards for protection of people and property, land, water and other natural resources, and aesthetic values, during underground mining activities and for restoration and reclamation of surface areas affected by underground mining activities. This administrative regulation establishes requirements for the monitoring and reporting of surface water quality and quantity, groundwater levels and quality and aquifer conditions, and the required duration of monitoring.

Section 1. General Requirements.

(1) Surface and groundwater monitoring shall be conducted in a manner acceptable to the cabinet in accordance with 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 and utilize, at a minimum, a sufficient number of appropriately located groundwater monitoring wells (or springs), surface water monitoring stations, and quantity and quality parameters to demonstrate if:
(a) The mining and reclamation operations are conducted to minimize disturbances to the hydrologic balance within the permit area, shadow area, and adjacent area pursuant to 405 KAR 18:060;

(b) The mining operation is meeting applicable effluent limitations and stream standards as required by 405 KAR 18:060, Section 1(3);

(c) Reclamation as required by 405 KAR is being accomplished and the operation is preventing material damage to the hydrologic balance in the cumulative impact area pursuant to 405 KAR 8:010, Section 14(2) and (3); and

(d) The mining operation complies with water quality criteria for bond release pursuant to 405 KAR 10:040.

(2) Surface and groundwater monitoring shall be coordinated with baseline data collection by conducting surface and groundwater monitoring at locations where baseline data was collected, or by other appropriate data collection and analysis procedures that shall allow a comparison of baseline conditions with during-mining and postmining conditions.

(3) Equipment, structures, monitoring wells, or other facilities used to monitor surface and groundwater quantity and quality shall be properly installed, maintained, and operated, and shall be removed or otherwise properly disposed of, including sealing of monitoring wells, if no longer needed; except that monitoring wells may be transferred to the surface owner of lands where the well is located, pursuant to 405 KAR 18:060, Section 6.

(4) Except as established pursuant to subsection (7) of this section:
(a) Surface and groundwater monitoring data collection shall begin during the calendar quarter of initial disturbance and continue during mining and reclamation until final bond release; and

(b) Surface and groundwater monitoring data shall be collected once each calendar quarter, with no two (2) samples collected closer than thirty (30) days apart. The results of the quarterly data collection shall be submitted to the appropriate regional office on or before the end of the first month following the calendar quarter in which the data were collected.

(5) If the results of any data collection indicate noncompliance with a permit condition, the permittee shall promptly notify the cabinet in writing and shall take immediate corrective actions to return the operations to compliance with all permit conditions.

(6) The cabinet may require the installation of additional groundwater monitoring wells and surface water monitoring stations, the collection of additional quantity and quality parameters, and more frequent data collection and submittal if additional information is needed to meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.

(7)
(a) Pursuant to an application for a revision of a permit, the cabinet may approve reduction of the sampling frequency for surface or groundwater, except as required by the KPDES permit, if the permittee demonstrates, using the monitoring data obtained pursuant to this administrative regulation, that the operation has minimized disturbance to the hydrologic balance in the permit area, shadow area, and adjacent areas and prevented material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area, and water quantity and quality shall be suitable to support the postmining land uses.

(b)
1. The cabinet shall not approve reduction of sampling frequency to less than quarterly until at least thirty (30) months after Phase I bond release on the permit.

2. The cabinet shall not approve a sampling frequency of less than once per year.

Section 2. Groundwater Monitoring.

(1) Groundwater monitoring shall be conducted according to the requirements of Section 1 of this administrative regulation and the monitoring plan required by 405 KAR 8:040, Section 32(4).

(2) At a minimum, groundwater monitoring shall include the parameters of:
(a) Water levels; and

(b) Total dissolved solids, or specific conductance corrected to twenty-five (25) degrees Centigrade; pH; dissolved iron; dissolved manganese; acidity; alkalinity; and sulfate.

(3) If the applicant can demonstrate, by use of the baseline geologic or hydrologic information, the mining and reclamation plan, and the determination of probable hydrologic consequences, that a particular water transmitting zone in the proposed permit and adjacent area is not one that serves as an aquifer that significantly ensures the hydrologic balance anywhere within the cumulative impact area, then monitoring of that water transmitting zone may be waived by the cabinet.

Section 3. Surface Water Monitoring.

(1) Surface water monitoring shall be conducted according to the requirements of Section 1 of this administrative regulation and the monitoring plan required by 405 KAR 8:040, Section 32(4).

(2) At a minimum, surface water monitoring shall include the parameters of:
(a) Discharge; and

(b) Total dissolved solids, or specific conductance corrected to twenty-five (25) degrees Centigrade; total suspended solids; pH; total iron; total manganese; acidity; alkalinity; and sulfate.

(3) Surface water monitoring for KPDES.
(a) Monitoring of point source discharges pursuant to a KPDES permit shall be conducted in accordance with 40 C.F.R. Parts 122, 123, and 434 and in accordance with the requirements of the KPDES permit. The permittee shall submit a copy of the KPDES monitoring results to the cabinet on the time schedule and in the format required by the KPDES permit. The permittee shall report all noncompliances with the KPDES permit to the cabinet in the manner required by the KPDES permit.

(b) Compliance with KPDES monitoring requirements shall not relieve the permittee of the obligation to comply with other surface and groundwater monitoring requirements of this administrative regulation.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 350.028, 350.151, 350.420, 350.465

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